This work addresses air–ground temperature coupling and propagation into the subsurface in a mountainous area in central Spain using surface and subsurface data from six meteorological stations. Heat transfer of temperature changes at the ground surface occurs mainly by conduction controlled by thermal diffusivity of the subsurface, which varies with depth and time. A new methodology shows that near-surface diffusivity and soil moisture content changes with time are closely related.

The concept of soil aggregates is hotly debated, leading to confusion about their function or relevancy to soil processes. We propose that the use of conceptual figures showing detached and isolated aggregates can be misleading and has contributed to this skepticism. Here, we conceptually illustrate how aggregates can form and dissipate within the context of undisturbed soils, highlighting the fact that aggregates do not necessarily need to have distinct physical boundaries.

Little effort has been made to develop methods to calculate the application rates of lime combined with organic amendments (OAs) needed to neutralise soil acidity and achieve the desired pH for plant growth. The previous approach of estimating appropriate lime and OA combinations based on field trials is time-consuming and costly. Hence, we developed and successfully validated a new method to calculate the amount of lime or OAs in combined applications required to ameliorate acidity.

The distribution of water-extractable colloids with soil profiles of 0–120 cm was investigated in a Vertisol under high-intensity agricultural management. A large number of experimental data show that colloidal phosphorus plays an important role in apatite transport throughout the profile. Thus, it is crucial to consider the impact of colloidal P when predicting surface-to-subsurface P loss in Vertisols.

Vegetation restoration is an important method of ecological restoration that aims to control soil erosion and prevent soil degradation. Our study suggests that combinations of species such as C. korshinskii and L. bicolor are optimal for improving the soil nutrients and soil erodibility for any slope aspect. This study provides insight into the rational planning of vegetation restoration measures for slopes with various aspects in semi-arid areas of the northern agro-pastoral ecotone.

Sorption of mercury in soils, aquifer materials, and sediments is primarily linked to organic matter. Using column experiments, mercury concentration, speciation, and stable isotope analyses, we show that large quantities of mercury in soil water and groundwater can be sorbed to inorganic minerals; sorption to the solid phase favours lighter isotopes. Data provide important insights on the transport and fate of mercury in soil–groundwater systems and particularly in low-organic-matter systems.

Tree cover has increased in grasslands worldwide, with juniper and oak trees expanding in the southern Great Plains, USA. Here, we examine how these changes interact with geology to affect soil C, N, and P storage. Soil concentrations of these elements were significantly higher under trees than grasslands but increased more under trees growing on Edwards soils. Our results suggest that geology and vegetation change should be considered when predicting soil storage in dryland ecosystems globally.

Sediment source fingerprinting is a relevant tool to support soil conservation and watershed management in the context of accelerated soil erosion. To quantify sediment source contribution, it requires the selection of relevant tracers. We compared the three-step method and the consensus method and found very contrasted trends. The divergences between virtual mixtures and sample prediction ranges highlight that virtual mixture statistics are not directly transferable to actual samples.

Cover crops have substantial impacts on soil properties, but so far it is not clear how long a legacy effect of cover cropping will remain in the soil. We found that cover crops attenuate negative effects on soil structure that come from soil cultivation. The combination of plants with different litter qualities and rhizodeposits in biodiverse cover crop mixtures can improve the positive effects of cover cropping on soil structure amelioration.

Conservation agriculture (CA), combining reduced or no tillage, permanent soil cover, and improved rotations, is often promoted as a climate-smart practice. However, our knowledge of the impact of CA on top- and subsoil soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in the low-input cropping systems of sub-Saharan Africa is rather limited. Using two long-term experimental sites with different soil types, we found that mulch could increase top SOC stocks, but no tillage alone had a slightly negative impact.

This study investigated how the deposition of mineral dust delivered by the wind influences soil development in mountain environments. At six mountain locations in the southwestern United States, modern dust was collected along with samples of soil and local bedrock. Analysis indicates that at all sites the properties of dust and soil are very similar and are very different from underlying rock. This result indicates that soils are predominantly composed of dust delivered by the wind over time.

This paper focuses on collating legacy soil profile data and on the production of an updated national soil type map of Ethiopia, EthioSoilGrids version 1.0, using legacy data and a machine-learning approach. Given its quantitative digital representation, the map and the associated data make tremendous contributions to agricultural development planning and digital agricultural solutions, as well as improving the accuracy of global predictive soil mapping efforts.

A carbon transport model was adjusted to study the importance of water and tillage erosion processes for particular microplastic (MP) transport across a mesoscale landscape. The MP mass delivered into the stream network represented a serious amount of MP input in the same range as potential MP inputs from wastewater treatment plants. In addition, most of the MP applied to arable soils remains in the topsoil (0–20 cm) for decades. The MP sink function of soil results in a long-term MP source.

This study investigated the performance of visual and near-infrared spectroscopy in six fields in Switzerland. Spectral models showed a good performance for soil properties related to organic matter at the field scale. However, spectral models performed best in fields with low mean carbonate content because high carbonate content masks spectral features for organic carbon. These findings help facilitate the establishment and implementation of new local soil spectroscopy projects.

The fungal kingdom has been diversifying for more than 800 million years by colonizing a large number of habitats on Earth. Based on a unique dataset (18S rDNA meta-barcoding), we described the spatial distribution of fungal diversity at the scale of France and the environmental drivers by tackling biogeographical patterns. We also explored the fungal network interactions across land uses and climate types.

Soil C saturation has been tested in several recent studies and led to a debate about its existence. We argue that, to test C saturation, one should pay attention to six fundamental principles: the right measures, the right units, the right dispersive energy and application, the right soil type, the right clay type, and the right saturation level. Once we take care of those six rights across studies, we find support for a maximum of C stabilized by minerals and thus soil C saturation.

Our long-term modelling study examines the effects of multiple soil redistribution processes on carbon dynamics in a 200 km² catchment converted from natural forest to agriculture about 1000 years ago. The modelling results stress the importance of including tillage erosion processes and long-term land use and land management changes to understand current soil-redistribution-induced carbon fluxes at the landscape scale.